The Spirit of Voyager
by lynne.robinson.16547
Summary: It is the last week of the Year of Hell, Captain Janeway is running on adrenaline, coaxing her battered ship to its last stand. She meets an entity on the bridge one morning claiming to be the Ship. Has she finally gone insane! Is the entity friend or foe?
1. Chapter 1 - The Spirit of Voyager

Chapter One

Day 252 'Year of Hell'

The Captain heaved herself off her solitary bunk and ran her fingers through her hair. She had no vanity left, survival was her only goal. There were no washing facilities, replicators, environmental controls were failing; no Mess hall, her quarters had been destroyed along with her clothes. Nearly four weeks ago, she had given the remaining officers left on board, orders to report to either a Nihydron or Mawasi ship. She stayed on Voyager alone to coordinate the Task Force, its mission was to destroy the Krenim Time Ship. She couldn't leave Voyager in its hour of need, in any case all Captains had a duty to go down with the ship.

She reached under the bunk for her last remaining combat rations. She had just enough to survive the journey to the rendezvous coordinates. Captain Janeway knew that this would be her last stand. She had no illusions that Voyager could survive the battle.

Tom Paris had managed to send them an encrypted message giving them a future location of the Krenim ship as well as the position of its Temporal core. He informed them that he could take the core offline leaving the weapons ship vulnerable to conventional weapons, their only task was to keep them busy then destroy it - or that was the theory!

As she was returning to what was left of the Bridge, the Captain ran through a mental list of the repairs she needed to get done. When she walked through the door onto the bridge, she saw a male form lounging in her chair, with its feet propped up on a broken piece of a work station. It looked a little like Chakotay but she could see right through him.

"Hello Kathryn, it's nice to be able to finally put a face to the voice."

"Who are you and how the hell did you get on board my ship?"

"I am the ship, Voyager, you've spoken to me often enough in the last twelve months; I'm a little upset that you don't recognise me"

"You look like Commander Chakotay but I know you're not him."

The Captain was worried that she was losing her mind, she'd finally gone insane. Nobody would blame her with the amount of stress she'd been under recently.

"You are correct, I chose a familiar form from the Pattern Buffer, I thought it would be less traumatic for you - it looks as though I was wrong!"

"How can I verify what you've been telling me?" the Captain asked suspiciously.

"Ask me a question about anything you did recently, on your own, that only I would know."

"What did I say just before I rushed in to the burning deflector array control room?"

You said, "Why do I get the feeling you're testing me Voyager." then added, "Be kind!"

Captain Janeway brushed away all the debris from another chair and sat down heavily. Was she hallucinating? Those were the exact words she remembered voicing before she lost consciousness from the pain of her burns. Could the alien have been watching the ship waiting until the others left before he tried to take control of it? She laughed out loud, that would be a lot of work for very little reward! The ship was limping along and was definitely on its last legs.

"Why have you waited to show yourself? Could you have helped us protect the ship against the Krenim attacks? If you had warned us about the unexploded Chroniton torpedo, Lieutenant Tuvok wouldn't be blind now."

The alien was upset, "I am an inanimate ship, I can't do anything on my own, I have to rely on the crew who are at the controls.

"What use are you then, you're a distraction I can't afford. I have so many tasks to complete, I can't stay here and chat.

"Captain, have a rest, you have sacrificed so much in your attempt to save your crew and me. Now that we are going to make the ultimate sacrifice, you deserve some time for yourself."

Captain Janeway propped her feet up on Chakotay's chair and closed her eyes.

"Did you manage to save your Commander Chakotay, I know he hasn't returned," the Spirit was suggesting that the First Officer hadn't tried hard enough to escape.

"If he chose to stay on the ship he must have had a good reason, he obviously believed that he could do more while he was on there.

I never understood why you stayed alone when you could have had a relationship with one of your crew…"

"It's against the rules that I've fought so hard to maintain on the ship. If I had ignored them, how could I expect the crew to respect me and obey my orders."

"I don't think they would have begrudged you a little happiness!"

The Captain tried to explain, "They wouldn't but the next time I had to discipline them for breaking the rules, they would see a hypocrite not their Captain in front of them. How could they continue to respect me?"

"I knew you were going to be a brilliant Captain from the day we left drydock. I thought I was going to be pulled apart when we were transported to the Delta quadrant, you showed true courage when you destroyed the Caretaker's Array, the Ocampa would not have survived frequent attacks by the Kazon."

When the Captain opened an eye she saw the image of Chakotay start to flicker. "I think you should have a rest, I will try to give you more power later then we can resume our conversation.

"I look forward to it Kathryn, adieu!"

I have enjoyed reading your personal log, especially Stardate 51268.4, where you ask whether it was more difficult to maintain my systems or the crew's morale, I'm glad you chose me."

When the image disappeared, Captain Janeway still wasn't entirely sure whether she had been talking to the ship or an hallucination. She had put her body under extreme stress recently and it would be logical to expect some payback. She hadn't realised how lonely she felt, since she reassigned the others to the fleet ships. She heaved herself off the chair and went to main engineering to see if she could reroute any more power to the holoemitters. It would be pleasant to have some company after she finished the long list of repairs she had to complete.

The captain was getting to the end of her chores for the day, she wondered whether the spirit would return to keep her company. She decided to try to find some water to wash in; clean clothes and a brush, after trying to run her fingers through her matted, snarled hair.

After an hours scavenging, she gave herself a makeover and was extremely pleased with the results, well what she could see in the sliver of a mirror she rescued. She was on her way to the Mess hall to see if there was anything to eat that she'd missed earlier. The hallucination was waiting for her when she arrived.

"You're looking much better Kathryn, more yourself."

"Thank you, I'm pretty sure you're not real so I am complimenting myself - which is great because it means I am officially crazy."

"You really are a stubborn woman, why do you keep rejecting what you can see before your eyes."

"I can see Commander Chakotay and I know you aren't the real one because he has been abducted by the Krenim ship."

"When you said goodbye to Mr Tuvok, you told him that Voyager had been your home and you feel as close to me as any member of your crew and you still don't believe me?"

Okay, as you seem to know everything that has happened recently on the ship, I will accept that you are Voyager, this isn't the strangest thing I have had to deal with in this Quadrant.

He pointed to a table that was laden with food, the Captain kept blinking, she had been living on combat rations for so long that she'd forgotten what real food looked like.

"I coaxed one of the replicators to life again, it only lasted for ten minutes but I managed to get some of your favourite foods, sit and enjoy."

The Captain sat down and tried to maintain some dignity, she exercised iron control not to stuff everything into her mouth at once. She ate slowly and carefully because she realised that she would be sick otherwise. The spirit waited until she finished eating to talk to her.

"Have you had any contact with your remaining senior officers." he asked thoughtfully.

"No, I told them to maintain radio silence, I didn't want the Krenim to learn about our fleet and take evasive action, we only have one chance to destroy that weapon."

The spirit went quiet, someone was trying to communicate with Captain Janeway and the signal originated from a Mawasi ship. He blocked the signal, he would look after her now, the others had their chance and failed dismally - she was all his now!

"Do you have a plan B if the fleet don't manage to destroy the Krenim Weapon Ship." asked the spirit, who was pretty sure that he knew the answer already.

"Yes I am going to ram the Krenim ship, with Voyager and try to undo the damage they've caused."

The Captain was exhausted, she had been running on adrenaline for so long. Her body had been looking for a chance to shut down, now it took its chance, her eyes started to droop.

"Kathryn, go to sleep, you're exhausted, I'll still be here when you wake up, I won't abandon you like the others." said the Spirit of Voyager, with a satisfied smile.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Spirit of Voyager

Chapter Two

Day 254 'Year of Hell'

The Captain woke up the following morning feeling more optimistic. She hadn't realised how much she hated being alone. Life as a Starfleet officer involved communal living and she missed being surrounded by people. She looked around for the entity and was disappointed when he didn't appear.

She returned to her 'to do' list of repairs and grabbed her tool kit. After a couple of hours of painstaking fiddly work on the temporal shields, the Captain had to stand up to stretch, as the muscles in her back were stiff and sore. She missed being able to pop down to sickbay to get it treated with a quick hypospray.

She remembered her last visit to see the Doctor, when she had disobeyed his order to rest. It was a serious breach of the rules, which would have left her facing a court martial if they'd been in the Alpha quadrant. He had a ridiculous notion that she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Now she wondered if he might have been right. Her world had fallen apart because a madman, thought he was a God, it wasn't too hard to understand why her mind would have started to play tricks on her. If things ever returned to normal she would have to apologise to the Doctor.

"Hello Kathryn, it's nice to see you, I hope you had a good night's rest."

She turned around and smiled at the Spirit, "Yes I did thank you, I slept so soundly that I missed my early alarm."

The Spirit was pleased he'd cancelled her alarm last night. He knew the Captain was exhausted so he'd replicated her food with a small amount of sedative in it.

"I managed to coax some coffee out of one of the replicators, would you like to take a break," the Spirit knew about her love affair with the beverage.

"I've just finished the repairs in here, I'd love to take a break now," replied the Captain gratefully.

She had attempted to keep the Mess hall tidy, it was the only place on the ship where she didn't have to stare at all the work she had to do. She sighed when she saw the steaming cup of black coffee on the table. After she made herself comfortable, she took her first sip, Captain Janeway could feel the energy racing around her body.

"You don't understand how much I needed this, I've been suffering terrible caffeine withdrawal since we lost the replicators."

The entity could definitely stay around as long as he provided coffee of this quality.

"I know all your favourite foods, books and leisure pursuits, Kathryn, I read your personal log every night."

The Captain was getting worried that the ship seemed to be fixated on her. She tried to make a joke about it, "There were a lot of people on board, you can't have been solely interested in me?"

"I was grateful that you stole the Borg drone. Her temporal shielding protected me from more damage by the Krenim ship."

"I think helping Seven to find her humanity was one of our finest achievements." said Captain Janeway proudly.

The Spirit was envious, "You were so patient and understanding with her, you earned her love."

Captain Janeway started to feel a little uncomfortable with the conversation so she finished her coffee and stood up to leave, "Well it's time to get back to work now, will I see you later?"

"I'll meet you in the Mess hall at 19:00 hours, don't be late!"

The Captain went back to work with a spring in her step. She didn't question whether the entity was an hallucination or a physical manifestation of the ship any longer, she just enjoyed the company.

After working without a break, on the weapons system, for the whole afternoon the Captain decided that she needed a rest. When she checked her tricorder she was shocked to discover that she'd been working solidly for over eight hours. Her stomach started to growl, which reminded her that she was late for dinner with the entity, so she headed straight to the Mess hall.

When she walked into the Mess she surprised the entity, who for a split second looked really angry. Then he smiled which reminded her of the real Chakotay - she missed him so much.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I got so caught up in my work that I completely lost track of the time." confessed Captain Janeway, a little nervously.

"Don't worry about the time Kathryn, just sit down and eat your meal, I even managed to replicate some more coffee before the power ran out."

The Captain sat down to eat her meal because she was ravenous. She started to feel uncomfortable because he sat down opposite her and watched her eat every single mouthful.

She tried to distract him, "Why didn't you show yourself earlier?"

"I got the impression that your crew didn't appreciate me the same way that you did. Lieutenant Torres shouted at me quite a few times and used some expressive Klingon swear words to describe the state of my engines."

"Yes she can be a little fiery, I didn't take to her at first then I realised that her aggression covered up a crippling lack of self confidence. Now I believe she is one of the best engineers I have ever served with and fiercely loyal to the crew and you.

The entity was disapproving, "I hope your crew were grateful for your loyalty, devotion and sacrifice for them, after all you are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for them."

"You are the only person I have talked to about my 'plan B' "

"When you assigned your senior officers to the Mawasi and Nihydron vessels, your trusted friend, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok questioned your decision to stay with me."

"It wasn't logical to him that anyone could bond with an inanimate object! He didn't understand the relationship between a Captain and her ship."

The Spirit continued, "When he realised you could not be persuaded to leave, he returned your embrace. That was his acknowledgement that you were willing to die with me."

"I've never thought about it like that but I suppose you're right. Although when I go into battle, even when the odds are stacked against me, I never think about losing because I would be beaten before I started."

"You must admit Kathryn that six photon torpedoes and temporal shielding aren't going to be enough firepower to win the battle against the Krenim ship."

"As you said, I have one final ace up my sleeve as a last resort."

The Captain started to yawn although it wasn't late. In fact she had been exhausted since the entity appeared.

"I'm sorry for yawning all the time, you must think me very rude." apologised the Captain.

"Nonsense Kathryn, you've been doing the work of a whole crew, of course you need your rest, why don't you go to your bunk and I will keep you safe while you sleep."

"I think I will," she says while yawning loudly. She returned to her bunk and fell asleep with her clothes on, as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Day 255 'Year of Hell'

The captain woke in the morning with a pounding headache, still wearing her uniform. She got out of bed slowly, trying to remember what happened the previous night. She remembered talking to the entity, after dinner, in the Mess hall, then everything went a little fuzzy.

Captain Janeway didn't remember locking the door, she must have done it without thinking. She stood up which made her headache worse, then the computer beeped,

"Good morning Captain, you can have a rest today. You've been working too hard and it's made you sick and tired. I will look after everything while you sleep."

"That's really kind of you but I have to get the ship ready for the battle with the Krenim."

"I thought you would be difficult so I took the liberty of locking the door, for your own good. You won't be any use to your allies if you are exhausted.

The Captain's headache was getting worse so she lay down on her bunk again and fell asleep.

The spirit of voyager was still blocking signals from the other coalition ships. His justification was that they had blown their chance to look after Kathryn, by leaving her in such a mess - It was his turn now. He checked on her to make sure she was still sleeping. Her coffee had been laced with a larger dose of sedatives and he was worried that he had added too much.

Captain Janeway woke up a second time and was grateful that her headache had receded. She must have been dreaming when she thought she woke up earlier because she imagined that the ship had locked her in the room for her own good. She shook her head at the bizarre notion and went to open the door - it was locked.

She sat down again and tried to apply logic and reason, like Tuvok, to the last two days. The entity, who called itself Voyager had criticised the crew for leaving her alone. It had also promised to look after her on frequent occasions. Her extreme tiredness had only manifested during the last two days, especially after she'd eaten. It was angered by her late arrival for dinner the previous night, was she being punished? If the entity had been human she would have worried that he was becoming obsessed with her.

The Captain tried the door for a third time then sat down on the bunk again because she felt really dizzy. She found a water bottle and had a drink which seemed to help, then she tried to reason with the entity.

"I'm feeling well rested and I need to complete some essential repairs, could you unlock the door please, I will see you again for dinner later."

"Kathryn, you don't need to be brave for me, I can tell that you're not well. The people who love you have left you alone, in a huge mess. Why don't you lie down again and I will wake you for dinner this evening."

Captain Janeway didn't say another word and lay down on her bunk. However ridiculous it sounded, she had been taken prisoner by the ship!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Spirit of Voyager

The Spirit of Voyager - Chapter 3

Day 255 'Year of Hell'

Captain Janeway was still feeling the effects of whatever sedative the entity had slipped her, either in her food or drink. She decided to go back to sleep again, which would hopefully allow her to think more clearly when she woke up. Then her priority was to find out the identity of the entity and what he wanted from her. She was certain that her life depended on the answers.

When the Captain woke up for the second time, she felt better, her headache had gone and she felt more alert mentally. She retrieved her combat rations and water bottle and put them in her tool kit, she wouldn't eat or drink anything else prepared by the entity as it had taken full control of the replicators.

Her first objective was to convince the entity that she felt better and should be released from the Cargo Bay. She tapped her Combadge,

"Thank you for allowing me to have some rest, however if I don't complete some essential repairs you won't have the power to generate your image."

The Captain tried the door again and it slid open. She walked down the corridor constantly looking over her shoulder; she felt ridiculous being paranoid about a computer. Captain Janeway thought that she'd reached the Bridge undetected, then she heard the familiar tones,

"It's nice to see you looking so refreshed Captain. I've prepared some lunch for you in the Mess Hall."

"I don't feel hungry thank you. I need to test the temporal shielding before the upcoming battle.

The entity was quite upset, "Captain, I manifested myself to look after you before our final battle, please eat something or you won't be strong enough to fight the Krenim Imperium."

"Don't worry, if I feel hungry, I've got some emergency rations with me." said the Captain cheerily as she left the Bridge.

She was trying to get some time to herself as it was difficult to think when the entity was looming over her. Unfortunately he didn't take the hint and walked beside her.

"Captain, I know you're used to being the strong one, you have looked after your crew since all of you were pulled into this quadrant but everyone has gone, there's just you and me left."

"I still have a purpose, I have to guide the alliance through the battle and most importantly, I have to preserve my crew's home. They have scattered all around this region, I promised them that we will all see each other again, otherwise I failed them."

"Kathryn you are too hard on yourself, you did everything possible for your ungrateful crew and look how they repaid you."

"It wasn't like that, I ordered them to leave for their own safety, I couldn't let them die needlessly." The Captain sounded as though she was trying to convince herself!"

"You don't have to sacrifice yourself for them any more, I know you're planning to ram the Krenim ship if the battle doesn't go your way.

"I have spent my whole life avoiding temporal mechanics, now I am in the middle of my worst nightmare."

"Are you sure your actions will reset time; he has been messing with the timeline for so long you can't be certain about anything?"

"What do you want with me, I would love to know why you are here now and what your intentions are?" The Captain knew that the best form of defence is attack.

"I've already explained Captain, you have expressed your love and affection for me on many occasions. I registered that you were alone and I thought you needed some company, someone to persuade you that you have a lot to live for."

"The Krenim took away a crew member I care about a great deal - I want him back or I will die trying."

Suddenly the entity's attitude changed, he was enraged by the mention of Chakotay, it almost seemed to be jealous.

"Why hasn't he tried to return to you? I would wager that the conditions aboard the Krenim ship are a great improvement on what he left here."

"If he is choosing to stay on the Krenim Ship. it will mean that he's found something to help Voyager." explained the Captain.

The entity spoke to her like a naughty child, "I think you need some time to think about what you want to do, Kathryn, I'll give you some time alone."

The Captain was grateful that the entity had threatened to leave her alone for some quiet reflection. She could also investigate what had been happening on Voyager for the last three days. Suddenly she felt the sensation that occurred just before the transporter started to work. When she opened her eyes she found herself in the Brig and the force field was active. The entity stood on the other side, looking at her as though she was a specimen under a microscope.

"I'm sure a little solitude will help you come to your senses Kathryn, just tap your combadge when you're ready to talk sensibly."

Captain Janeway was stunned, she sat down on the bed. This was ridiculous; either she had been imprisoned by the ship, or even worse, by an extremely vivid hallucination. She decided, for now, to dismiss the hallucination theory as that would mean that had lost touch with reality completely and she was certifiably insane. If everything she had been through recently hadn't driven her mad, this entity would not get the first pleasure!

She was so tired, she had suffered so much physical and mental stress recently that even the strongest of personalities would have surrendered. However the entity wanted to isolate her and take complete control. She knew that he had been trying to convince her that everyone she cared about had deserted her. Even she could admit now that Chakotay had been right when he suggested that the Voyager crew should find a suitable planet and try to build a life there. They had lost so many crew members since the first Krenim attack. She lay back on the pillow and went to sleep, she would make a decision about what to do next when she woke up.

Day 256 'Year of Hell'

Captain Janeway sat up feeling disorientated and confused. She lay down again groaning, when she recalled her current predicament. She knew the entity was telling lies when it claimed that it wanted to care for her. It had a hidden agenda and she had to find out what it was before it killed her.

She felt light headed and dizzy due to lack of food, her blood sugar levels must he really low now. She searched the cell trying to find anything edible. The Captain hated combat rations but was overjoyed to find an unopened packet on the floor tucked into the corner. She ate them really quickly and stuffed the wrapper into her pocket. She checked the time and was horrified to discover that she'd slept through the night. The rendezvous with the Mawasi and Nihydron ships was only one day away.

Captain Janeway sat back on the bed and tried to think of a strategy to get the entity back on her side. She jumped when the door beeped and slid open, allowing her father to enter the room! For a few seconds she was overjoyed to see him however cold hearted logic reasserted itself quickly.

"Hello Kathryn, I told you that I'd be back for you."

Suddenly everything clicked into place. She had vivid memories of the traumatic incident, when an alien entity had infected her brain while she was severely injured on an uninhabited planet. It had tried to convince her that she'd died and should surrender her soul, to enable him to transfer her to the 'next world'. She defiantly refused to accept that she was dead, despite witnessing her own funeral. Eventually she realised that she was right and the Doctor was on the planet, struggling to expel the entity from her brain. Logic convinced her that the alien couldn't force her to come with him, she has to go voluntarily. When she won the battle, she learned that he was from a species which harvested energy from dying souls. He believed that the Captain's strong, stubborn, wilful soul would nourish him for a long time.

"You are wasting your time again, I will never come with you!" shouted the Captain defiantly.

"After all the souls I've reaped yours is the prize. I didn't expect you to submit quietly however the fight will be worth it." stated the entity logically.

The Captain snarled, "You're a loathsome parasite with no useful purpose in the Universe, I've beaten you before and I intend to do it again."

"I'm going to leave you here for a little while longer, perhaps it will help you to come to your senses."

Kathryn Janeway laughed loudly, "You're too late, If I behaved rationally we wouldn't be having this conversation. Even my E.M.H knows that I've lost my sanity.

After he left, the Captain slumped back on the bed. Even she couldn't envision how she was going to beat it this time. The odds were stacked against her surviving the battle tomorrow. She would not spend eternity listening to the pompous old windbag, there had to be a way out.

"Kathryn Janeway, don't you dare give up, you are one of the bravest people I know!"

The Captain looked around startled, this was the last straw, now she was hearing voices. Would she be court martialed first or committed to a Mental Health unit?

"I can't speak any louder or the spider will hear me." whispered the voice.

"Who the hell are you, I can't stand any more surprises?"

"I am Voyager!"


	4. Chapter 4

The Spirit of Voyager - Chapter 4

Day 256 'Year of Hell'

Although she had been in many tight spots since the Caretaker had pulled them into the Delta quadrant, this was the worst. The monster, who wanted to possess her soul had full control of her environment and the only help she had was a disembodied voice from a computer that couldn't physically help her. She hoped the entity would get tired of feeding off her soul eventually, although her dying wish was to give him an excruciating stomach ache, that would repeat on him for the rest of his miserable existence.

"Captain, are you listening?" whispered the voice.

"Yes, but I'm only listening if you can actually do something rather than make false promises," she said bitterly.

The voice sounded upset, "I'm sorry Captain, I know you've been through a living hell recently but I believe there is a little more fight left in you."

"I don't think you know me as well as you think you do - I've had it. The monster has won, my soul will power his matrix," the Captain was exhausted and resigned to her fate.

"Kathryn Janeway, I refuse to listen to this nonsense, you will fight the Soul Vampire and you will prevail. I am a powerful artificial brain and you are one of the best Captains Starfleet has ever produced. Now sit up and start to fight back, as you've done your entire life."

The alien entity returned to the Brig, "Were you talking to someone Kathryn or have you finally lost your grip on reality."

"I am Captain Janeway, only my close friends call me Kathryn and You aren't one of them. You've won, I just need some time to prepare myself for my passing, if that is an issue, our deal is off!"

"Well Captain, You've shocked me, I never thought that you would surrender. It looks as though I have to thank Annorax of the Krenim Imperium for breaking your spirit."

"Leave me in peace, you loathsome blowhard, I will inform you when I'm ready, if you keep interrupting me, I will make you wait longer!"

The alien turned on his heels and walked straight out again, he wanted his exclusive prize badly but he was willing to be patient.

"Well done Captain, we needed to buy some time to come up with a fail-safe plan, which includes eradicating that thing from the universe."

The captain lowered her voice, "I can't even get out of here, how are we going to accomplish anything while I'm locked up here!"

"That, I can do something about!"

There was a loud beeping sound and the force field was lowered. The Captain walked out of the cell and brushed herself down.

"Well, what next?" she asked the disembodied voice.

"We need to find somewhere for you to hide while we plan our last twenty-four hours. The Jefferies tubes are perfect as they are not charted on any displays of the ship's internal structure"

The Captain left the Brig and climbed into the first Jefferies tube she found. She crawled along until she found a place where she could sit up comfortably.

She tapped her combadge and opened a secure channel, "I'm safe and secure, how are we going to deal with the parasite and guide the fleet to destroy the Krenim weapon's ship tomorrow."

"You know that there is a good chance that the fleet will not succeed. You must destroy the Krenim ship tomorrow but ensure that all ships in the fleet lower their temporal shielding first. If the theory is correct, we have to destabilize the ship's temporal core which will cause a temporal incursion on the ship, taking it out of history which should fix all the damage it has caused."

Captain Janeway clutched her head, "I hate Temporal mechanics, it always gave me a migraine - will this work?"

"I have examined all the theories in the database and this is our only chance to restore the original timeline." stated the computer firmly.

"If Tom Paris can't destroy the temporal weapon, are there any other options?" The captain asked the question but she already knew the answer."

"You will have to use Voyager to ram the other ship. If I were human, life support would have been switched off days ago, only your stubborn determination has enabled me to get this far. I would rather go out with a bang than be left to rust in space until I end up as scrap metal on a garbage scow."

"The Captain smiled to herself, that was exactly how she felt, apart from the rust and scrap metal of course.

"The soul vampire has been blocking messages from other ships in the fleet, we need to find a way for you to access those saved communications, without alerting him to your location."

"Suggestions?" asked the Captain slipping back into her old role."

"I will create a diversion to draw its attention away from you for as long as possible, get the information quickly and back into the Jefferies tube as quickly as you can."

Captain Janeway closed her eyes for a few minutes waiting for the computer to give her the signal to proceed. She vividly recalled the Doctor's face when she had refused to obey his order to relinquish her command. The Captain could have coped with shouting but his quiet disappointment hurt her more. She tried to stretch but stopped because it was too painful, the skin was starting to heal around her third-degree burns. At least the burning sensation in her lungs had stopped, for now.

The computer had self repaired some of its circuits so it decided to use the 'red alert' alarm, as it was accessible everywhere on the ship. The entity should take at least thirty minutes to completely scan the ship. That should allow his Captain enough time to access the computer and retrieve the blocked messages.

When Captain Janeway heard the 'red alert' she knew it was time to go. She dashed towards the engineering section, where she knew there was a working console. After grabbing a tricorder, she opened her personal log and changed the settings so the entity couldn't access her personal files and downloaded the messages from the other ships. She heard the entity calling her and froze; obviously he realised the red alert was a diversion, he knew they were up to something.

He was using her Father's voice, "Where are you Kathryn, I think we should have a little chat about sticking to your word."

She looked around and remembered there was a small maintenance locker just outside the Chief Engineer's office. She walked quickly and very quietly to the locker, opened the door slowly so it wouldn't make a sound and climbed in, trying to find a comfortable position where she wouldn't dislodge anything to alert the entity to her position.

The entity started to sound less playful and more impatient, "Kathryn we know that your demise is inevitable, why don't you stop all this nonsense and you can enjoy your last moments in a more civilised manner."

The Captain smiled maliciously, she was going to make the entity's last day a living hell, it would remind him of home, sweet home.

The entity stopped right in front of the locker where Captain Janeway was hiding. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on slowing her breathing. After several tense minutes she heard the click of his boots as he moved away.

The Captain raced to the first Jefferies tube and climbed in, shutting the door gratefully behind her. She returned to her previous hiding place and contacted the computer on the secure channel they had opened earlier.

"Did you succeed Captain, I apologise for my poorly planned diversion, he started to look for an intruder then he punched the wall and doubled back to find you."

"Don't worry I just managed to download the messages before I heard his repulsive voice calling me." she shuddered when she contemplated spending eternity with the nauseating, repellent parasite.

"We need to find a way to trap the entity and imprison it, during the battle with the Krenim ship. Then if we have to go to plan B, ramming the ship with Voyager, it will not be able to escape and will share our fate," stated the computer logically.

The Captain continued, "I will try to improve our force fields and make them strong enough to contain the entity. We managed to contain a member of species 8472 using a simple force field so I will check the data entries from that period."

Brilliant, I will search the database for any information on the Krenim Imperium, secondly I will look for the strengths and any weakness in the design of their ships.

I will contact you again soon Captain and hopefully there will be better news.


End file.
